1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a laser scanning motor having a rotating polygonal mirror and a method of manufacturing the same, and more particularly to a laser scanning motor with a rotating polygonal mirror suitable for use in an image recording apparatus such as a facsimile receiver, a printer, or the like, and a method of manufacturing such a laser scanning motor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is well known in the art to record an information signal on a surface of a photosensitive body by deflecting a laser beam modulated by the information signal with a mirror or any other laser scanning motor to scan the photosensitive body with the information-modulated laser beam, or to read recorded information from such a photosensitive body by scanning the same with a laser beam and detecting the intensity of light reflected from the photosensitive body. Various laser scanning motors are known and used. One conventional laser scanning motor employs a rotating polygonal mirror, which can deflect a light beam continuously at a high speed for recording and reading information speedily and at a high packing density.
The prior laser scanning motor comprising such a rotating polygonal mirror typically uses a cylindrical brushless motor having salient poles and an iron core, the polygonal mirror being mounted on the rotatable shaft of the brushless motor. The laser scanning motor of this design is disadvantageous in that it is heavy, large in size, and has a relatively large thickness. Furthermore, the opposite ends of the rotatable shaft of the brushless motor are supported by respective bearings, which however cannot easily be brought into accurate axial alignment with each other. The above laser scanning motor is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publications Nos. 49(1974)-93027 and 57(1982)-62751.